Phonograph



July 10, 1923- W. M. VENABLE PHONOGRAPH Original Filed April 1, 1920 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Ti -Ill] llllll July 10, 1923- M. VENABLE PHONOGRAPHOriginal Filed April 1, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 10, 1923.

' UN TED 1 ing at Pittsburgh,' in the'co'unty ,gheny and .State ofaccomplish the,

but little, if anyv To all it"mg comm. Be it known that VLQWITJLIAMYML'VENA- BLE, a citizen Pennsylvania, have invented certain newand-useful Improvelowing is a specification; V This invention relates to'phonog'raph apparatus which maybe used: eithenfor'repurposes and Thisparticularly applicable to phonogfa fi f the disc type. v 1

The present application is adivi'sion 'of l e s #3 0 521;- il

in its correct position with respect to the record without abandoningthe use of the fixed pivotal sup'portfor the soundbox which has provensoadvantageous 1 in practice as to have become almost un1-' versal'lyapplied.,' "It "is the furthenintention of this invention to' p'rovidemeans to be readilyapplied tofthe various types of phonographs already:v

fitting or change." together with ,uch' otherflobjects as are Imor whichmay 'appear hereinafter, Lobtain by I J 1 construction whichIhaveillustrated in pre- {erred form in the accompanying draw ngs,

.wherein:

Fig. 1 isva plan view of anlapparatus em- I bodyingmy mprevementsshowing parts of the phonograph broken away; Fig 2' 1s a side elevationFig. 1 Fig.

, proved apparatus illustrating the invention as it might convenientlybe applied to that i type ofphonograph known ,on the market as theVictrola; Fig, 4 isa side elevation of the apparatus illustrated in Fi-p 7 In Figs; paratus which is which can also beused for purposes of re?production although for the latter purpose" I prefer .to use theconstructionsillustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. By means of -a su tablesecure to some portion [of the of the Unitedstates, resid-f I 'Of'Alleforegoing object which "can on V the market with Th means of a ofthe apparatus illustrated in} 3 is a plan view ofmyim 1 and 2 I havellustrated an ap- I particularly useful con-1' nection with therecording of records but conne threaded "to the upwardly projecting"stand-" 5 and '6 which isj'p'referably formed mtegrjal fto thejphonograph"cabinet at any fdesired I I g v elevation within rasonable"limits.- *"Inplace ments' in Phonographs, of which the folof the clamp 1;may provide-other means th' 'nuts 4? and 5 st a" point directly above IB v p gaxiseef the turn-table 10. i-Thispivot'is 9,

The principal object ofthe invention toprovide a simple means formaintaining'the soundbox stylus vertical pivot and permits;swinging-{movemam of the guide" bar '7 while still maintainingfiit'atall timesjratlially disposed with respect ito'the disc or turn-t'ablei vend of the jframe' 3: The connectionbetween: the soundbox '11 and thecarrien arm" 12 "embodies aho'ri'zontal" pivot 16- which 'Qpermits"vertical {movement ofithestylus 17 in order'to take" care pfanyirregularities there may be in the record 'surfacefl8prin themountihgfof-E the turn=table =10 on its -axis 9; "The interior of "the"soundbox 11 communicates with the trumpet 19 which, as before stated, isparticularly ide's gned forfrecording purposes: "Thesameappa ratuscould, however, "be used for: repnoduc-' ing purposes' without' change.f

In order to obtainth'e most satisfactory results it is advisablethatthatpoint or-portion of the soundbox" stylus which iscutting the soundgroove;if recording, or following it, if reproducing,- '1 should be'consta'ntly "niaintainedin aplane which "is tangent to the groove-atthe point of Contact. In order to accomplish this result without'abandon ing the swinging support for the soundboi which is. usedpractically universally in reproducing machines 1' providewhe; pivotalction -13 between the soundbox 'and the swinging guide "arm? 14."iAs"the"gu-ide arm, moves inwardly toward the center ofthe rec 0rd fromthe position indicated' 'in'dotted lines inyFig. 1, it"isnecessaryto'move the soundbox and its carrier a short distance in ev s d nw9 s fih rff a of apparatus could The point of the stylus 17 should followsubstantially the dotted line 20. The connection 21 between the guidebar 7 and the soundbox carrier arm 12 must, therefore, be such as topermit relative radial movement between the two, but at the same timemaintain a fixed relation between the two with respect to rotativemovement about the pivots 8 and 13.

For recording purposes it is necessary to provide a feeding mechanismfor the soundbox which I may accomplish by threading the guide bar 7 andby correspondingly threading the point of connection with the soundboxcarrier arm 12. By slowly rotating the guide bar the soundbox may beswung inwardly from the outside of the record toward the center. Iprovide for rotation of the guide bar by projecting it beyond the pivot8 a short distance and connecting to this projection a pulley 22 whichis driven b means of a suitable flexible connection 23 etween it and theshaft 24 fixed to which is a friction wheel 25 positioned so as tocontact with the periphery of the turntable 10. The supporting housing26 for the shaft 24 and the wheel 25 may be made integral with the frame3 or detachable, as may be suitable or desirable. In this way I combinea feeding mechanism with a guiding mechanism; but it is obvious that Imay employ a feed mechanism similar to that described, and yet disposeit with reference to the-disc in a relation other than radial provided Ido not make the guide mechanism depend upon it, employing instead anindependent guide mechanism such as is illustrated, for example, inFigs. 3 and 4 to be described hereinafter.

For reproducing urposes the same kind be used without change althoughwhen so used it is unnecessary to provide the threaded connectionbetween the guide bar 7 and the carrier arm 12. A sliding connectionmight be substituted with equally good results inasmuch as inreproducing the soundbox is carried from the outer edge of the record tothe inner edge by the needle following the sound groove. It is alsopossible in a reproducing machine to fix the carrier arm 12 to the outerend of the guide bar 7 and to provide a sliding connection in the pivot8.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have illustrated two embodiments of the inventionwhich are specifically useful in connection with machines which aredesigned for reproducing purposes only. I have illustrated it as itcould be conveniently applied to that type of phonograph known as theVictrola which is designed for playing lateral cut records.

In these figures; namely Figs. 3 and 4, the swinging guide arm isrepresented by the tone arm 14. Its pivotal support 15' corresponds tothe pivot 15 of Figs. 1 and 2. The

soundbox 11' carried by the arm 12 is connected to the guide or tone armby means of the vertical pivot 13 corresponding to the vertical pivot 13in Figs. 1 and 2. At this vertical pivot 13' there is fixed to thecarrier arm 12' the supplemental arm 27 to the outer end of which ispivoted one end of the guide bar 7 by means of the pivot 21'. The otherend of the guide bar is connected to a fixed support by means of thepivot 8 which corresponds to the pivot 8 of F i s. 1 and 2. By thissimple con struction t e point of the stylus 17 can be maintained at allpositions of the guide arm 14 in its correct position with respect tothe groove in the record 18 in which it is traveling. To this end theproportion of the various parts are geometrically worked out and thevarious points of pivotal support properly located. When the soundbox isplaced upon the outer edge of a record the parts will assume thepositions indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 3 and 4, and when therecord has been played the parts will assume the positions indicated infull lines in the same figures. As the guide arm 14' swings inwardlytoward the center of the record the soundbox carrier arm 12 will bemoved in the opposite direction on its pivot 13 in a manner similar tothat which occurs in the construction illustrated in Figs 1 and 2. Itwill be readily seen that this arrangement of the parts 14 and 7 ispreferable to that of the parts 14 and 7 of Figs. 1 and 2 because itrequires much less accurate fitting and insures a steadier motion at thepivot 13. In practice I prefer it for that reason as well as because itleaves the space above the turn-table unobstructed for placing and forremoving records and record blanks.

The arrangements shown in Figs. 3 and 4 do not require that the pivot 8be located directly above the axis of the turn-table as in Figs. 1 and2. This guide arm feature of my invention can be applied to the Victrolawithout other modifications than those necessary to provide the verticalpivot at 13 and the parts 7 and 27 ivoted as described. In talkingmachines as itherto made there has been but one vertical pivot providedand that is the one at 15 around which the guide or tone arm 14 swings.Consequently the stylus 44, as it moves inwardly over the surface of therecord, makes a continually changing angle with respect to the groove inwhich it is traveling, the total amount of variation ranging anywherefrom 10 to 20.

What I claim is:

1. In disc phonograph apparatus, the combination of a soundbox with astylus, a vertically pivoted guide arm therefor, a vertical pivotconnecting the soundbox to the guide arm, and a feeding mechanism forthe soundbox, said feeding mechanism also operating to move the soundboxon its pivot to maintain the stylus axis in a plane substantiallytangential to the direction of rotation of the disc at the point ofstylus contact with said disc.

2. In disc phono raph apparatus, the combination of a SOIIDC lbOX, avertically pivoted guide arm therefor, a vertical pivot connecting thesoundbox to the guide arm, a feeding mechanism for the soundbox disposedtransversely of the disc, and a vertically pivoted support for thefeeding mechanism.

3. In disc phonograph apparatus, the combination of a soundbox, a guidearm therefor pivoted to provide swinging movement across the disc forthe soundbox, a pivotal connection between the soundbox and the guidearm for providing the box with swinging movement with relation theretosimilar to that of the arm, a feed screw for moving the guide arm andbox across the disc, pivoted to swing like the guide arm, and means forrevolving the screw.

4;. In disc phonograph apparatus the combination of a soundbox, acarrier for the box vertically pivoted to a swinging arm, a guide barfor the carrier, a fixed support for said bar to which it, is pivotallyconnected, and a threaded connection between the carrier and the guidebar.

5. In disc phonograph apparatus the combination of a sound box, acarrier for the box vertically pivoted to a swinging arm, a guide barfor the carrier, a fixed support for said bar to which it is pivotallyconnected, and a connection between the carrier and said bar whichmaintains a fixed alignment between said members but permits movement ofthe carrier toward or away fromthe pivotal connection for the guide bar.

6. In disc phonograph apparatus, the combination of a sound box, avertically pivoted guide arm therefor, a vertical pivot connecting thesound box to the guide arm, a feeding mechanism for the sound boxdisposed transversely of the disc, a vertically pivoted support for thefeeding mechanism, a stylus, and means cooperating with the verticalpivot connecting the sound box to the guide arm for maintaining the axisof said stylus in a plane substantially tangential to the direction ofrotation of the disc at the point of stylus contact with said disc.

7. In disc phonograph apparatus the comb-ination of a swinging arm, asoundbox pivoted thereto for similar swinging movement. and a radiallydisposed guide bar for the soundbox pivoted to a fixed support, saidguide bar pivot being directly above the center of the disc andpermitting swinging movement of the bar in a plane substantiallyparallel to the disc.

8. A unitary feeding and recording mechanism for a disc phonograph soundbox comprising in combination a supporting member detachably mounted onthe phonograph cabinet, a guide arm vertically pivoted to the supportingmember, a carrier for the sound box vertically pivoted to the guide arm,a guide bar for the carrier vertically pivoted to the supporting member,a threaded connection between the guide bar and the carrier, and meansfor turning the guide bar in said threaded connection ghereby to movethe sound box across the isc.

9. A unitary feeding and recording mechanism fora sound box onadisctypemachine having a turntable, comprising in combina tion a supportingmember mounted on the phonograph cabinet, a guide arm for the sound boxpivoted to the supporting member, a feeding mechanism for the sound boxcarried by the supporting member, and means actuated by the turn-tablefor oper ating the feeding mechanism, said means glso being carried bythe supporting mem- 10. A unitary feeding and recording attachment for adiscphonograph sound box comprising in combination a supporting membermounted on the phonograph cabinet, a carrier for the box pivotallymounted on the supporting member to swing above the disc, a soundreceiving trumpet secured to the carrier, and a feed'ingmechanism formoving the carrier also secured to the detachable supporting member,said box being horizontally pivoted to said carrier at the terminus ofthe trumpet.

11. A unitary recording mechanism for a disc type phonograph having aturntable, comprising in combination an attaching member mounted on thephonograph cabinet, a guide arm pivoted to the attaching member to swinghorizontally over the turntable, a recording sound box and soundreceiving trumpet sustained on said guide arm, a feed screw pivoted tothe attaching member to swing horizontally over the turntable, athreaded member engaging said screw to cause swinging ofthe sound boxand guide arm when the screw is rotated, and means driven by theturntable for revolving the screw, said means being carried by theattaching member.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

WILLIAM M. VENABLE.

